I was a fairly good student in school, or so I believed. I was good at academics and used to take part in a few extempore and debate competition. However, I never took part in sports or social service activities like the NCC, etc. I never went on picnics or stayed late for tournaments and such stuff. But still, me and the other girls like me who used to put all our efforts into studying and keeping our teachers happy were the class favourites. We were preferred for all sorts of activities that could highlight us in the school and among other classes.
I remember one of the students once blamed our class teacher when I was picked for an off-site plantation camp. I was furious. How could she do that? After all, I was a good student and a teacher’s pet. But now when I think of it, she was right.
It was a plantation camp, not a science exhibition in the rival school that the school would want my academic expertise. Other students could have been picked instead of me. When I think of it now I realise it was favouritism, if not nepotism. And while joining the dots with the current scenario it is not hard to believe that the roots of such sensitive practises are sowed in people from their childhood.
Let’s take a look around. Before the Indian subcontinent became democratic, lots of kings and queens ruled the country merely on the pretext of their inheritance. Nobody questioned their capability to rule an entire kingdom. It was understood that a prince succeeds a king on the throne and a cobbler’s son succeeds him in the shoe shop.
But today, we feel proud to say that India is the biggest democratic country in the world. The people elect the leaders. A few still enjoy the power of inheritance and many heirs have taken the place of their parents in the ruling party, the most relevant examples being Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
Leaving aside politics, almost all fields that have a lot of money involved suffer from favouritism, Bollywood is the biggest example. Bollywood though is highlighted to a great extent because it has nepotism intertwined with favouritism to make the life of an outsider more difficult.
The need of the hour is not shunning star actors, but being very selective of the purpose cinema serves; of providing good content. We should watch movies that are worth it, even if star kids bring them forward. It’s not their mistake that they are privileged; it’s our fault that we give them an undue advantage because their path was easier. If you are going to watch Raazi you should go and watch Sonchiriya too.